Arc 3: Our Lady is Mysterious

Benedicte Kampari has sent the investigators to Our Lady of Mysteries Abbey in search of a particular book that might contain knowledge that could aid the people of Heathersly. The abbey is a two-day walk from the Dale, so the investigators will have to spend a least one night sleeping rough. When they finally arrive at the Abbey, they will find they have stumbled into another mystery...this one surrounding the death of the abbot and the identity of who or what killed him.

Plot points/Scenes

Muriel de Gennelet is the Prioress of the Abbey, second in line for leadership after Abbot Caedmon. She was appointed about a year ago, and since that time she noticed that Abbot Caedmon regularly used his power to slake his lust with the young novices, both male and female. Paulinus, the novice master, was very complicit in this perversion and supplied the abbot with youths for "personal devotions," and took sadistic delight in beating those novices who protest into a state of resigned compliance.

The Prioress wrote a letter to the Seneschal of Lorinne expressing her concerns about Caedmon, but Paulinus intercepted the letter before it could be delivered. Through a talented copyist novice named Immin, Muriel became aware of a Ritual to summon a lilim, a demon to drain a person's vitality through unnatural fornication, which she thought made a fitting punishment for the abbot's vice. All the ritual required was six drams of "blood of the moon..."

When the PCs arrive, Muriel has just put her plan into action. The final step is to burn a special incense stick laced with softsteel. She knows the abbot likes to incense the room before his "devotions," so she makes up an excuse to visit him just after he retired and swapped out his normal incense for the special one.

However, Muriel thought that Caedmon would light the incense before the novice arrived, but he didn't until young Immin was in his chambers. The sight of the lilim was too much for the abbot's heart, and the lilim completely took Immin as her prize...and used Caedmon to create a second lilim and begin terrorizing the abbey.

As usual, the PCs are clueless about all this. They just want to read a book.

Structure

Exposition

Kampari's Charge

Benedicte instructs Rowan and Elric to make for Our Lady of Mysteries Abbey, famed for its library, to locate the effects of Galeren the Last Keeper of the Shrine and hopefully find the Journal of Dame Gisele to learn what the Venerati are facing and how it was dealt with in the past. He also tells them that Brother Humbert is a friend and should they need something, to remind him of the favor he owed Benedicte regarding the Hound of Valastice. Benedicte tells the Venerati to speak with Abbot Caedmon, and he provides a letter of introduction. The investigators’ starting point is the small farming collective town of Heathersly in Longshadow Dale, a two-day walking distance from Our Lady of Mysteries Abbey.

Sleeping Rough

The PCs will not be able to make it to the Abbey in one day. As the sun begins to set before them, they draw even with the Stairs of Paradise, a well-known ruin at the edge of Oelno Forest. It lies at the top of a small rise about two hundred yards from the road. The forest lies just to the south of it, stretching out of sight to the east and west. A few scattered raindrops fall, and the night might well be a damp one. GM: getting camping arrangements. If watches are being set, remember to ask how the PCs are tracking time? Do they have a candle? A fire? The stars may not be visible... If the PCs camp at the ruins, they will find a set of gilded spurs under one of the arches. The leather has become misshapen after laying out in the rain and snow from some time, but they are equipment fit for a noble. (GM's Note: These were Thane Champoux's, left behind in her haste to move to more favorable ground after the attack.)

Remember to cross-reference the weather...

Outside the Abbey

As the western end of the Oelno Forest comes in sight, a distant bell can be heard over the treetops, in the general direction of Lorinne. The bell sounds “Vespers” (6 PM), i.e. sunset. When the investigators finally clear the woods, the sun is below the horizon and ominous clouds are gathering, with the promise of a storm. They can see across the pastures, perhaps a half-mile away, a stream lazily meandering from right to left behind the dark silhouette of a tall half-timbered church rising against the darkening skies. Behind the church is a tall octagonal tower and an imposing stone keep, easily the largest stone building you have ever seen and built as if to repel a siege. A couple of outbuildings and a small mill on the river bank complete the scene. No entryway faces the road, as if the monks are actively discouraging visitors. A small track leads to the far side of the keep in the rear, where the main doors to the abbey can be found between the two towers of a stone gatehouse.

Inside the Abbey

When the PCs knock on the door, a lower panel with open, and the Volgare porter Facchino greets them with "Pace su dite!" He opens the door and admits them into the entry hall. Once he learns their names and business, he walks the investigators through the courtyard and up the northern spiral stairs to the guest rooms for visiting clergy. There he lights up a few oil lamps, shows them their beds, and the location of the latrines ("pass through the scriptorium into the cloister, and it's on your left."). Apart from the investigators, there are no other guests at this time of year. After the investigators install themselves, Facchino departs to announce their arrival. The wait is long enough to allow the investigators to nose about the hostel and to look outside; the blackness of the (stormy?) night is only offset by a light coming from a window in the separated tower; the wind carries a man’s eerie voice reading the Scriptures somewhere. There is a large, long-haired gray cat very interested in the PCs. It is aloof, but not afraid of them.

Enter a monk and two volgare servants, bearing a basin, pitcher, and towel: all three bow and the monk introduces himself as the hosteller Aleyn. The servants pour warm water over the PC's hand, catching in the basin, and dry them with the towel. Aleyn then embraces the Venerati and tells the investigators that Lord Abbot Caedmon has already retired for the night (this is normal, as the abbot takes his meals in his chambers), but that the abbot will come nonetheless to greet them in person after their meal and the abbot's nightly devotions. Aleyn invites the guests to accompany him to the downstairs refectory for a meal (beans and bread, goat cheese and wine, and some fruit). If they ask about the curious feline, they are told it is Sibyl, the abbot's cat.

Compline (9 PM)

Brother Aleyn silently watches the investigators eat. Before long, dean Muriel enters somewhat out of breath and pale. She greets the investigators with a modest bow of the head, and presents herself as the dean. She apologizes on behalf of abbot Caedmon who won't be meeting them tonight as he suffers from a digestive troubles: the abbot needs rest, and will meet them in the morning after the Prime hour (6 AM).

When their meal is finished, Muriel brings the investigators to the guest's common room for a chat. The room is cold and shadowy, lit only by a few candles. While Muriel and the investigators discuss, thunder and the pouring rain can be heard outside.

What Muriel says…

Muriel had not anticipated the visit of the investigators, and if they have told anyone they were sent by Benedicte, she has heard of it and is nervous that her villainy will be found out. The answers Muriel is willing to provide on a variety of topics can be found under Muriel's statistics. First and foremost, Muriel wants to know for what reason Cercatore Benedicte sent them. If the PCs tell them that they are looking for a specific book, she will probe a bit further until she is satisfied they have not come to investigate her. If they tell her they have come to find a specific ritual, she will believe they are fellow seekers of knowledge and will try to aid them (for now).

Once Muriel knows that the investigators are not looking for her, she will hastily excuse herself, claiming the PCs' business is important enough that she will ask if the abbot is well enough to see them in his chambers. She will then go quickly to the abbot's house, hoping to retrieve the incense before it summons the creature, but finds the door locked and she is too late.

The dean returns in a few minutes and conveys the abbot's apologies until the morning, but mentioned that he said to extend every courtesy to the guests' need. Muriel invites the investigators to join the community in the church for the office at Compline (9 PM). Outside it has started to rain, and the investigators, Muriel, Aleyn, and the two Conversi walk in the dark towards the cloister’s entrance, while the bell calls the brethren for prayer. While investigators attend the office, the GM should briefly describe the monks standing in the church’s nave. Brother Godfrey leads the Adoration. The seat of abbot Caedmon is empty. In fact, unknown to all but to Muriel, poor abbot Caedmon is already dead! Cuthbert, Immin, Peter, and Secundus are also missing: they are relieved of choir service to finish an important copying and illuminating task for a foreign abbey.

After the office, the monks and the lay brothers leave in two separate groups to go to their respective dormitories.

After the Compline service, Muriel accompanies the investigators back to the hostel. The GM should prevent any foolish nighttime action: the investigators are exhausted and they have no tangible reason – yet - to act adventurously.

Conflict

First Day

At the break of dawn (Prime – 6 AM), the church bells sound the first Adoration of the day. Although it has stopped raining, the cloud ceiling hangs low, a strong cold wind is blowing, and the ground is drenched. If any of the investigators were affected by the Bell of Heathersly, their condition worsens. None of the investigaAEDtors have not slept well, but Stigala had a particularly disturbing night.

Stigala will have a dream: a woman kneeling by the water's edge of the river near the abbey, dressed in exceedingly long red robes. Her long black hair hangs loose and hides her face. She is slowly washing a tattered and bloodied monk’s tunic! Then, she turns her head towards the dreamer and her beautiful face morphs into a hideous, leering skull and Stig is scared awake.

Brother Aleyn and his two Conversi fetch the investigators after the office to join in the Chapter meeting. The monks and Volgare (34 in total) are gathered in silence like usual, but the atmosphere is tense. The abbot’s seat in the center of the Chapter is empty, and Prioress Muriel is nowhere to be seen. Two of the younger monks (Peter and Secundus) exchange a few words in sign language. Peter looks especially worried and pale.

Before long, Muriel and the cellarer Edgar join the crowd, arriving from the Southern transept door. The Prioress stands back with a tense expression on her face, while brother Edgar steps forward and addresses the brethren: “Dear brothers, the situation is highly unusual, but I implore you to stay calm. You all know our beloved Father Caedmon was feeling ill last night. Now the door to his room appears to be locked from the inside and the abbot does not respond to our solicitations. Pray for him.” He looks around for a while then turns to the dean: “I do not see novice Immin who was with Father Caedmon last night…” Novice Master Paulinus with a smile, "Perhaps the lad convinced our soft-hearted abbot to stay the night in his chambers and therefore shirk his morning chores. I'll take the penance later today, I assure you." Prioress Muriel interrupts him and calmly says, “That won't be necessary, Brother Paulinus. Let’s have the abbot's door opened”. Muriel designates one of the Conversi – a carpenter named Fresatore- to fetch his tools. It is assumed that the investigators follow, together with the monks Edgar, Paulinus, and Enabarrus.

The Locked Room

A successful Repair roll or Thievery roll (and a small knife) is required to unlock the door. If the lock resists, the GM should allow the door to be forced open. The smell of a punguent, unidentifiable spice wafts out, mixed something sharper, like...iron. Something lies blocking the door that must be shoved aside. It turns out it is the body of a young man, in bloodied novice robes. The door has pushed his corpse through a large pool of thick, coagulated blood and there is a large, semicircular portion of his left shoulder and neck that is just...missing. Make a Resilience (Nausea) roll at -1) Behind this young man, the inert and obese body of the abbot lies sprawled naked on a four-poster bed. Prioress Muriel inspects Caedmon’s body for a few moments. She then closes the abbot’s eyes and turns around to tell that the abbot passed away. All are asked to kneel on the ground and to pray for the abbot’s soul, and that of novice Immin.

Clues

There are several clues to be found in the room:

Close inspection of the abbot’s body – there are no weapon marks or injuries on the body of the abbot, nor discoloration around his lips and mouth. No food and drink seem to be in the room at all. A Medicine roll can only conclude that his heart gave out.
A chair lies tipped over on the opposite side of the bed as the abbot's body. Near the chair on the floor is a portion of the Paragon Chronicle: the Book of Verité.
Any one examining the door – presuming it was not forced open - notes that one plank is cracked outward, and that the nails holding the lock in place appears to be loosened (because the lilim hurled Immin against the door). This indicates that something happened after the door was locked.
Another clue is the incense found at the abbot’s bedside. The stick is used up for half of its length, meaning that somebody or something extinguished the incense about a half-hour after it was lit. It is clearly the source of the spice scent in the room. Below the incense is a fine gray ash with...something else. Small bits of what appear to be softsteel and a small white pearl seemed to have been mixed with the incense and fallen into the tray.

What Happened to the Abbot?
After Muriel planted the magicked incense, the abbot waited for Immin, a novice, for his turn at "devotions." The abbot asked Immin to lock the door and light the incense. Around 8 PM, in the midst of the novice's services, an ancient Samraaji creation – a lilim - emerged from the stasis disc. Horror struck the two monks. Immin could not even cry out before the creature leaped on him and tore out his throat! The lilim then leapt upon the aboot and rode him until his heart gave out…

Sacrifinale

Godfrey, Prioress Muriel and her two aides go to the abbot’s chambers and prepare Caedmon’s body. They undress the body, wash it, and finally shroud it with a linen sheet. Then Caedmon is transported to the abbey’s church and put in the Choir behind the Altar. There the shrouded corpse remains until the pyre can be built for the Sacrament of Sacrifnale. Smok is certainly welcomed to help perform the Sacrament, once his skills are relayed to the monks. Most monks are in a state of shock, and an almost palpable tension is hanging in the air for as long as the investigators stay. Indeed, because of his sudden death, Caedmon did not receive the last rites: his confession, the Last Unction, or the anointing with holy oil. This is felt by all as a malediction, a divine test. The GM should to take this into account when role-playing the monks. Only after Caedmon is cremated will the election of a new abbot be considered…

The Investigation Begins

In the confusion that follows this dramatic turn of events, the investigators, who are facing several unresolved mysteries, are left to their own devices. They may need to be reminded that they have their own, separate agenda at the Abbey. The GM should allow the investigators to freely move about and conduct their investigation. Let events develop at the pace set by the players, exercising just enough control to ensure that no obvious clue is overseen, and that the shroud of mystery is not unveiled too soon.

Entering the Library

The library of Our Lady of Mysteries Abbey lies in a series of catacombs below the Tower of contemplation, and are contained in scores of wood-lined armarium apertures carved into the walls about eight feet from each other. This arrangement was made so that even if the buildings above burn to the ground, the books may well survive. Also, no more than 20 or 30 books are kept in each niche for further compartmentalization.

The librarian is Godfrey. Godfrey is a stern figure well into his nineties, quite intolerant and boring. He has an unexplained dislike for prioress Muriel, because he thinks women are a distraction to monks. Godfrey is believed to know the Chronicle by heart. Godfrey has the keys to the several locked armaria (library closets)...the ones that hold the really interesting books! Godfrey disapproves of the PCs poking around...he (like many of his brethren) believe that the goal of the library is the preservation of knowledge, not the seeking of it!

The library catacombs are narrow tunnels no more than five feet wide, with a rush-covered dirt floor and an arched roof barely six and a half feet overhead. There are no lights here, though each armarium has a bracket to hold an oil lamp. Investigators are given a clay lamp filled with oil and with a thick wick protruding from the spout. The air down here is completely still, absolutely dry, and smells of old parchment.

Searching for the Book

The books are stacked in the armaria in seemingly no particular order, and are not grouped by author, subject, date of transcription, or any other discernible method. The practice of labeling the book's title on its spine is not yet a thing, so each book must be opened in order to know its topic. It will take hours, and could possibly require days, to search this library.

The Primary Skill to find the book is Research. If the PC does not have skill in LaLange, the Research roll will be at -1. If the PC does not have skill in Lingua Santa, the Research roll will be at -1. The language penalties are cumulative (i.e., a net -2 to the Research roll if the PC is skilled in neither Lalange nor Lingua Santa). Each attempt represents 4 hours of searching. During the search, a couple of strange things will happen: STRANGE SOUNDS

a person moving just outside of the field of vision of the investigator
Slow, deep breathing in the shadows.
Faint girlish sobs.
Unexpected footsteps just around the corner.
A startling thud in the dark, very close by.
Unidentifiable clicking sounds above their heads, etc.

The trick is that the source of the sound is invisible, or disappears before the investigators can locate it.

STRANGE VISIONS

A fleeting shadow
The light from another lantern, always just around the next corner, then suddenly disappearing (possibly leaving the investigator lost)
A woman in long red robes standing with a lamp at the far end of a long hallway. She has long black hair that hides her face...and four arms! She turns and walks out of view.

Could be figment of the investigators’ imagination, a fleeting shadow, a subliminal snapshot of something horrible immediately forgotten (maybe the apparition will return in the investigator’s nightmares), etc.

The PCs will be unable to find the book in the library, since it is not there. The effects of Galaren the shrine keeper were brought to the Reliquary for safe keeping. However, successful Research rolls will turn up OTHER interesting tomes...

Outside Events

For PCs outside the library (likely the Volgari) they can witness other events:
One investigator is struck by a inexplicable malaise, a sense of impending doom, nausea, anxiety, etc.
The investigator(s) may feel observed, endangered, etc.
Sibyl the cat freezes without warning, and stares at a corner of the room – there is nothing there… Use the cat to hear, see, or sense the lilims, and let the investigators witness the cat’s reaction.
There is the imprint of a very odd, bony foot in the mud, filling with rainwater. Something was there seconds ago…
More indirect evidence of the lilims’ presence can work also, e.g. broken objects on the floor, a door that was closed a moment ago and is now open, a faint unwholesome smell.

Before the Sacrifinale

Smok will witness: Muriel coldly and unemotionally dressing the body of the Abbot, even being a little unceremonious with the body, but she becomes emotional and tears well up in her eyes as she helps prepare the body of the novice Immin. In fact, she cannot continue and asks Smok to finish the preparations. As she hurries out of the room, Smok will see Guibert, the Novice Master, watching Muriel intently from the doorway.

The Conversi

At one point, Stigala will see a Volgare man beckoning to her from one of the spiral staircases. He says "Follow...follow!" and heads downstairs into some kind of cellar area. The stairs lead to a large store room, lit only by a couple of oil lamps. He introduces himself as Adagio, and the Conversi have recognized her as a Seer because of her tattoo, and Adagio was asked to bring Stigalato the Conversi common room and have her do a reading about what is going on. The Conversi are very fearful of Malfeans and are generally freaked out. The Conversi provide the following information:

There is something unnatural moving about the Abbey. The Conversi can sense its presence, but haven't seen anything. They feel it is a Malfean (a Neverborn) and it lingers here. (Madam Magdalena)
"I was told to only speak good of the dead. Abbot Caedmon is dead. Good." (Adagio)
At his "Devotions" with the novices, the abbot made them do awful carnal things with him. It is possible one of them had a grudge against the abbot. But they're sworn to silence for a year.
The Novice Master Guibert has a violent temper, and he may have taken revenge on the Abbot too.

Important Conversi: Sinibaldo Brisscha Benedetto Madam Magdalena knows the Read Omens ritual, using snake vertebrae.

The Second Night

If the investigators spend a night in the guest chambers, adjacent to the dead abbot’s rooms, they are haunted by the lilim that killed Caedmon. Pick one investigator (e.g. one doing the watch or one played by an impressionable player), and have him woken up by faint but definite scratching sounds, coming from the other side of the door, at floor level. Obvious suggestion is that it must be Sibyl, the abbot’s cat, but, is it? Anyone examining the door from the outside may attempt a Notice roll to note that there are several scratches in the wood at floor level. In fact several slivers of wood have been cut out. In reality it is the lilim that smells the investigators and wants to check them. Refrain from too early a confrontation, preferring instead eerie effects such as described in “Ghost Spotting” below. The goal is to make the players feel uncomfortable and vulnerable.

If any of the investigators stay the night in the abbot's room, they will be attacked by a lilim. The creature is planning to use the chamber as a place to birth her next daughter. If the investigators go back into the chamber the following day, they will find a large smear of blood and dark tissue (afterbirth)in the middle of the floor.

Rising Action

The Next Day

These next events are in whatever order the GM decides.

Disturbance in the Novice Cloister (Morning)

There is a wailing and shouting from the Novice Cloister, acorss the entry hall from the Refectory.

Meeting Humbert

If the PCs remember Humbert, they will be told that the only way to contact him is by written message slipped through his meal slot, where he will respond some time later. If they do so, he will ask to speak to them in person and asks them to be in the storage room at the ringing of the next prayer bells and he will admit them into his chamber.

When he does so, the door opens very slowly and they see a tall Paysan man of advanced age, with a mane of white hair and a scarred face. He stands there, not speaking and immobile, with an arm extended inviting you into a modest chamber. Once inside, he livens up and moves quite easily despite his years.

Once the PCs relay who they are and what they want, he will be willing to help them...he served with Dame Giselle (but became the Tablet Guardian before the incident her journal references). The only problem is that the journal is only supposed to be entrusted to members of l'Order Fantôme, which the PCs are not...yet. He has read it, and can tell the PCs some info about a lloigor, but he certainly hasn't memorized how the Order bound it. However, if they solve the problem that besets the Abbey, he will induct them into the Order.

When they leave, they will notice it is MUCH later than it should be...6x however many minutes they spoke to him.

Climax

Lilim

Attributes: St d6, Vi d6, Sm d6, Ag, d6, Sp d6
Pace: 6, Parry: 5, Toughness: 5
Skills: Athletics d8, Fighting d6, Notice d8, Stealth d12
Feats: First Strike, Alertness, Resilient (2 Wounds)
Abilities:

Horrific Bite: (2d6 dam)
Confusion Aura: The lilim shifts back and forth between a beautiful young woman and her horrific bestial nature. Any remaining adjacent to the lilim at the end of their turn must make a Smarts roll at -2 or be both Distracted and Vulnerable. Both states are removed at the end of the victim's next turn, that if they are still adjacent to the lilim they may have to roll again.
Immunity: Bludgeoning and Slashing damage (can still be shaken by these, though).
Weakness: Softsteel weapons do +4 damage.

Lilim are basically succubi, but more horrific in their natural state. They have a fearsome bite, but prefer to attack lone victims if possible. They reproduce by riding one or more victims in their sleep, then can repdocue another of their kind the following night. This offspring arrives full-grown and fully functional in her own right.

Resolution

Stasis Discs

Stasis Discs are circular ceramic plates about 1/2" thick and 8" in diameter. the top has six grooves, radiating out from the center like the spokes of a wheel, and the center has a hemispherical cavity about 1/2" across lined with strange geometric lines in inlaid metal (GM: circuitry). These Samraaji artifacts are extradimensional prisons, used to trap their failed "creations." Placing a spherical neodymium (softsteel) pellet in the center activates the circuitry and breaks the disc apart, releasing the creature inside. The disc is no longer usable after the creature released. IN THIS SCENARIO: Muriel came across three of the discs in the library of the Abbey. She and

Relations

Allies

Humbert Enbarrus

Adversaries

Muriel

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